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3D Print Air Quality – ASA vs ABS and the RESULTS are!

In this episode, we will be taking a look at ASA (Acrylonitrile styrene acrylate) a newer filament pre-say that is becoming more popular on the 3D replacine ABS as it has 10 times the weather and UV resistance of ABS. So you guys asked me to test it and test it I did! If you want to check the filament, here is a link: amzn.to/2FlpFNg

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Acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), also called acrylic styrene acrylonitrile, is a thermoplastic developed as an alternative to acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), but with improved weather resistance, and is widely used in the automotive industry.[1] It is used for general prototyping in 3D printing, where its UV resistance and mechanical properties make it an excellent material for use in fused deposition modelling printers.[2]

ASA is structurally very similar to ABS. The spherical particles of slightly crosslinked acrylate rubber (instead of butadiene rubber), functioning as an impact modifier, are chemically grafted with styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer chains, and embedded in styrene-acrylonitrile matrix. The acrylate rubber differs from the butadiene based rubber by absence of double bonds, which gives the material about ten times the weathering resistance and resistance to ultraviolet radiation of ABS, higher long-term heat resistance, and better chemical resistance. ASA is significantly more resistant to environmental stress cracking than ABS, especially to alcohols and many cleaning agents. n-Butyl acrylate rubber is usually used, but other esters can be encountered too, e.g. ethyl hexyl acrylate. The latter has lower glass transition temperature than the former, -65 °C vs -45 °C, providing better low-temperature properties to the material.[3]

Couple points worth note:

[1] Just because you don’t “smell” something doesn’t mean there aren’t particles in the air.
[2] Measurements in the video are for formaldehyde registering substances and TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compound en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatile_organic_compound).

This means there could be other “bad” things in the air which we are not measuring. So this is why one of the larger data points we will focus on are PM2.5 counts. So you might ask why we are so concerned about this? Well, Since they are so small and light, PM2.5 particles tend to stay longer in the air than their heavier siblings the PM10 particles. This increases the chances of humans and animals inhaling them and due to their small size, particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers are able to bypass the nose and throat and penetrate deep into the lungs with some may even enter the circulatory system.

There have been studies which have found a close link between exposure to fine particles and premature death from heart and lung disease. Fine particles are also known to trigger or worsen chronic disease such as asthma, heart attack, bronchitis and other respiratory problems as well as a Journal of the American Medical Association (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11879110) paper which suggests that “long-term exposure to PM2.5 may lead to plaque deposits in arteries, causing vascular inflammation and a hardening of the arteries which can eventually lead to heart attack and stroke. Scientists in the study estimated that for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) increase in fine particulate air pollution, there is an associated 4%, 6% and 8% increased risk of all-cause, cardiopulmonary and lung cancer mortality, respectively”
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